NASA to be overfunded in 2015, its future as bright as the Sun

NASA has often gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to federal budgets, but a rather fascinating thing happened when the US House of Representatives recently passed its massive $1.1 trillion spending bill. NASA’s 2015 budget actually saw an increase of 2% over 2014 levels, which is even more than the agency asked for. That means more space science is getting done next year.

Under the new budget, NASA would receive a total of $18 billion. That’s $364 million more than last year. NASA requested $500 million less than that, but it will surely be happy to take the extra cash. Of course, being a Congressional spending bill, there are specific requirements for some of this money. Amazingly, though, the increased funding in certain areas didn’t come at the expense of any other space science divisions.

The big winner is NASA’s planetary science program, which is earmarked to receive $160 million more than the original request. The budget includes a stipulation that at least $100 million of that money be spent on a robotic mission to reach the icy world of Europa. This moon of Jupiter is thought to have plate tectonics and a subsurface liquid ocean with the potential for alien life. That’s not enough to get us there, but it can help lay the groundwork (and provide an economic boost in congressional districts with NASA research centers). NASA’s primary planetary focus right now is returning samples from Mars as part of a next-generation version of the Curiosity mission.

NASA’s astrophysics division also got a nice increase of $70 million. This funding will keep the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) program alive. SOFIA is an infrared telescope mounted in a modified Boeing 747. By flying into the stratosphere, the instrument can get a clear view of space at a fraction of the cost of launching a satellite-based telescope. However, SOFIA is still pricey compared to many other programs. There was concern it would be grounded in the new budget, but all systems appear to be go. The James Webb Space Telescope will also continue as planned with all $645 million NASA requested to keep the program going.

Human spaceflight accounts for half of NASA’s budget, and here the agency got everything it asked for. Orion and the commercial crew program (i.e. SpaceX and other private launch companies) are fully funded, which is nice. Now NASA will have a little cash left over to make more parody music videos. For example, the following rendition of “All About That Base,” which has been modified to “All About That Space.” Oh, NASA. It’s a little cringe-worthy in places, but at least we can be sure NASA is run by giant nerds, as well it should be.

This budget isn’t final yet — the US Senate is set to vote on it in the next few days, but it’s expected to pass. Failing to do so would result in a government shutdown, which no one is too keen on right now.